By Holly Thorpe
On June 20, Wenatchee LIVE! will host their inaugural performance at the Numerica Performing Arts Center in Wenatchee. The one-night show will feature comedy, music, pies in faces, puppets on hands, and all sorts of mischief and wholesome fun. The project has been in the works for nearly a year, and after joining the team earlier this year, I watched it grow into a love letter to the valley, being penned by over a dozen artists and organizations who want to celebrate the place we call home.
I asked my co-producers, Adam Eagle and Lauren Loebsack, to tell me more about the show’s roots, inspirations, growth-spurts, growing pains, and bright future.
What: Wenatchee LIVE! variety show
When: Friday, June 20; doors at 7 p.m., show at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Numerica PAC, Wenatchee
Tickets: $20, numericapac.org
Tell me about the show. How would you pitch this to a total stranger?
Adam: We have assembled a team of incredibly thoughtful and talented people who want to laugh together, play music, and goof off with you. On the first day of summer we’re getting together in the best damn venue in town to celebrate. We’re featuring The Welter Brothers, who are terrific musicians and even better people. We’ve got a who’s who of Wenatchee talent that I am excited about, and don’t want to necessarily give away yet. We really want to cover the bases of what Wenatchee has to offer.
Lauren: Think of a musical variety show.
Adam: There will be pie!
Where did the idea for this show come from? How long has it been in the works?
Adam: Cynthia Brown discovered that I had been in hiding, spending a summer working on my buddy’s farm after moving back after a decade-plus in Seattle, and pulled me into a room with a bunch of talented people to see if she could make any sparks. I immediately reconnected with Lauren, who I shared a stage with way back when I was a young man working shows at the Pressroom Theater. She saw the vision right away and we got to work! She has such a great feel for absurdity and sincerity, and is a damn hard worker. She has volunteered so many hours for this valley for so many important things that it is almost too much to mention. And she’s just funny on stage. Together we got the ball rolling to where we are now.
Lauren: Cynthia Brown is the connection. As much as nature abhors a vacuum, Cynthia cannot abide an empty stage. And when we all got together, the variety show idea really blossomed. It gives us a chance to showcase music and comedy and gives us that space to have some fun with the format. We took that and ran with it.
As the cast has grown and production has continued, how has the show changed or evolved?
Adam: I knew from the beginning that I wanted to pay homage to that sincere, but tongue-in-cheek vibe of Garrison Keillor’s work on “A Prairie Home Companion.” I love the sense of community that format could build. I also have a huge love of the old ‘70s variety shows where someone could just be absolutely psychotic for three minutes as a stupid character - in that old Tim Conway kind of way. Life is serious right now, and being able to laugh at yourself while still managing to be earnest and caring feels so important to me, and that’s what I wanted to share.
Lauren: A group of us did something similar about a decade ago, so there was a rough sense of what worked before. But when you’re creating something from scratch it’s like approaching something on the horizon from a distance. You see an outline, a shape. As you journey toward it, you can see more details. The exciting part of such collaboration is that you have to start the work and trust the process. That’s got us here and I’m really excited to share.
Adam: Holly - don’t you dare take out the nice things we’re saying about you when you publish this.
Lauren: Holly, I swear to god
…
Right now, what part are you most excited about?
Lauren: There’s nothing like the tipping point when the plan becomes action and it’s too late to do anything but get out there and do your best. Then afterward, when you really get to hear from someone in the audience that hopefully had a good time, it’s magical.
Adam: It’s exciting to do anything at the PAC. It has always been the “big” theater for me growing up here. They have a terrific team that has been so supportive and open to what we are trying to make - and being up there for their 25th year is just so special. That being said, I am more excited to see pies in faces.
Who should come to this show?
Lauren: I know how cliché this sounds but I hope this is a show for everyone. People who love live theater, who know us, will probably get a kick seeing this particular group play. But we really wrote this with the goal that it will be enjoyable for anyone, even and especially if you’re not a regular theater attendee because we meant for it to be approachable and fun.
Adam: We might push PG-13 but we aren’t trying to do a show that is too edgy. We’d rather lean into being supportive and goofy as hell. If you want to see what’s happening in the valley, support the arts, don’t mind a little singing, and want to be supremely appreciated by people who care about you, come on down.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Adam: It feels ridiculous that we can do this. I am hoping people show up who are inspired and feel like they can do better. I want to meet them, and I want to help give them the tools to make fun of me and call me old and support them to create and the next great 25 years of the PAC and art in the valley. If you’re reading this and already feel this way, then reach out! I have work for you.
Lauren: Puppet. (Author’s note: It’s true. There will be at least one puppet.)